How Many Hours Since You Fell
by TrashBinStories
Summary: So this is after the events of the Winter Soldier. Steve and Bucky reunite, but Bucky might be damaged beyond repair. After the events of Ant man, includes ant man end credits scene and an explanation for it. Basically a bunch of whump, flashbacks, and feels will ensue. Only bromance, no slash.


_Steve felt himself begin to fall_

 _Fall_

 _Fall_

 _Fall_

 _Fall_

 _Fall_

 _It seemed like the falling would never end._

 _Never_

 _Never_

 _Never_

 _He continued down_

 _Down_

 _Down_

 _Down_

 _Down_

 _He reached his arms up toward the sky. Towards his friend. He should have been afraid, he knew, but he could only laugh at the irony of the situation._

" _To think," he thought to himself, "the last time something like this happened you were the one falling. I guess this is Karma. She really is a bitch."_

 _Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Steve felt the harsh, hard cold of the water as he made contact. He knew that he only had seconds left as he began to submerge. He was already so weak._

 _The last thing he thought of in the darkness of the swirling river was, "Well, at least it was me this time, and not you"_

After his encounter with the Winter Soldier and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve had awoken in a hospital bed, as the smooth sound of Marvin Gaye's voice filled up the room. After staring at the ceiling for a few moments, Steve had finally shifted to his side and was unsurprised to find Sam sitting beside him in an old plastic chair. His head was resting against his chest, and as tired as he was Steve couldn't help but smile at the soft snoring coming from his companion. Reaching out a tired hand, Steve managed to grab onto Sam's forearm, shaking him awake. Sam's head snapped upward suddenly and he looked around, startled for a few moments until his eyes came to rest on his friend beside him.

"Well, well, well. Hello there sleeping beauty. Nice to see that you're up and awake again." Sam said with a chuckle. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his back, loosening himself up as though he had been sleeping in that chair for hours. Steve wouldn't be surprised.

"How long have I been out?" He croaked out, surprised at how weak his voice sounded.

Sam glanced at the clock, as if pondering the question for a moment. "About eleven hours," he said with a shrug.

"Is everyone safe?"

"Yup, Widow's fine, as is Eyepatch man and that other badass chick, Hill wasn't it?"

"Hydra?"

"We've stopped the attacks. For now."

Steve nodded in appreciation. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to relax. He knew what he wanted to ask next, but he was afraid of the answer. Clearing his throat he reopened his eyes and looked at Sam.

"Do you know anything, um, about-"

"Bucky?" Sam supplied.

Steve nodded.

Sam sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face tiredly. "I'm going to tell you how it is Cap. Your friend, if you still call him that, well, he saved your life. We found a set of footprints in the mud bank of the river where we found you. The prints matched some that we had found on the bridge after that first fight. He must have dragged you back onto shore, but who knows why." Sam shifted in his chair again, sitting up straighter as he continued, "Well, anyways, I know that Widow was out searching for him, but she finally came back about an hour ago to visit you and now I'm pretty sure she's off with Eyepatch and Hill, getting some sleep or something. She'll be alright, but shit Steve, everything's going insane. There's going to be a lot of rebuilding to do after all of this."

Steve merely nodded in reply, but his mind was spinning. _Bucky had saved him_? He could barely fathom that idea, especially after his friend had been trying to murder him over the past couple of days. But the thought gave him hope that his friend was still out there, that maybe, just maybe, there was a way to get him back. It had to be possible. After all, hadn't something similar happened to Clint during the Avengers first mission as a team? They got him back, although honestly he wasn't truly back at least for a month or two. He was very nervous for a while. He even had several panic attacks and nightmares every other week. Comparing Clint's experience, which lasted a month, to Bucky's, which had lasted for years….who knew what the repercussions could be. Still, Steve tried to push those thoughts to the back of his mind and just, remain positive, or something.

Steve was so deep in thought that Sam had to clear his throat several times to get his attention. He snapped back into reality for a few moments.

"Sorry Sam, I was just …thinking." He sighed.

Sam gave him a weak smile, and only then did the First Avenger notice how beaten up and tired his newest addition to the team was. He had dark shadows under his eyes and multiple butterfly Band-Aid things taped to his face, as well as several bruises.

"It's all good Cap, and I know what you're thinking about. Don't worry. Widow and I will be more than willing to help you find your friend. But first," he said, standing up and stretching his arms with a huge yawn, "I'm going to go home and get some R&R. And then, we'll talk."

Steve felt incredibly grateful towards his friends. "Sam, thank you so much- I can't even tell you how much this means to me." But Sam just waved away his thank you.

"It's no problem Steve, none at all. But before we can find Bucky, you need to get your strength back. I know you don't want to," he continued, as he saw Steve opening his mouth to protest, "but you have to. You'll be of no use to Bucky or the rest of us if you're falling to pieces. Even with your super soldier serum, you're not invincible."

Steve knew it was true, so he sat back into his pillow, defeated. "Alright Sam," he said simply, "I know you're right."

Sam smiled at him as he headed towards the door, "Yeah. You know I wish I could hear you say that more often." He joked. He then turned back to look at Steve one more time and offered him a final peace of advice. "You better get rested man. Because shit is probably going to hit the fan faster than you may think."

"Spoken like a true poet," Steve snorted.

Sam merely grinned at him and walked out the door.

Sinking back into his pillow Steve sighed. He had only been awake now for maybe twenty minutes, but he could feel the drugs that they had given him making him tired. He closed his eyes, and couldn't help but smile, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to get through to his lost friend.

Just before he fell asleep, Sam's final message echoed in his mind.

" _Shit is probably going to hit the fan faster than you make think."_

And oh how right he was.

It had been exactly 11 hours since he had last seen Bucky Barnes.

 **Ok, so that was fun. Anyways I just want to explain that this Fanfic is basically all bromance whump and stuff (which will be coming sooner rather than later I swear) and there will be a focus on the very end credit scene from Ant-Man. I plan to just really include only Sam, Steve, and Bucky. Maybe Clint and Natasha too, but that's for later chapters. There will probably be some scenes that alternate between Bucky and Steve's point of so much. Love you all**


End file.
